Alternate Years
by penpaninuSessh
Summary: Those you term villains were once people too. A hard past hardens the spirit to refine the world to a better place. Zaheer only wants to achieve freedom, even if it means kidnapping the Avatar. What if he were successful? He, P'li, Ghazan and Ming-hua embark to the South Pole to capture four year old Korra. And to reveal the pasts that made them the way they are.
1. The Mission

Author Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or likeness of "The Legend of Korra." Zaheer, Ghazan, P'li and Ming Hua belong solely to Bryke and Bryke's crew! I'm just a thirty something who loves good animation.

Authors Note: Zaheer talking to Korra in the spirit world quite frankly about how they became imprisoned due to a kidnapping attempt on her as a child began to stir the pot of inspiration. I also just bought the Book Three artbook and a note from Bryke perked me up. In the ancillary art section, there is a piece of the four villians of Book three as young adults posing. Ming-Hua had arms and I always assumed by this picture she lost them in the attack to kidnap four year old Korra. So not the case. The artbook let me know that this was a vision of the four, and that Ming-Hua had been born without arms as a congenital birth defect (called amelia for you medically-inclined folks). Somehow thinking about this birth defect and that picture and listening to the Korra book one soundtrack on an hour drives to work thrust this story into my mind. And I knew I had to start writing it. So here we go!

And before you ask, yes, this broke my heart to do to Korra and Naga. Poor polar bear dog got me in this chapter.

"The Alternate Years"

Chapter one "The Mission"

~~~~Fifty seven years after the events of Avatar the Last Airbender~~~~

Ice and snow; as far as the eye could see, ice and snow in the untamed tundra, with the occasional block or boulder of ice dotting the landscape. A lone figure lay on his belly in the snow, keeping low behind a jagged crop of ice. Only his eyes encased by a fur-lined hood were visible as he lay hidden. It was artic cold and the young man could feel the cold seep into his furs as he lay there for hours on end waiting.

Waiting for his prey to come out and play.

His teammates were further back in the tundra, similarly hiding behind their own blocks of ice. His prey emerged, running down to the snowy valley below. She moved suddenly, shrieking and laughing. Zaheer tensed slightly when he spotted a polar bear pup yipping at her heels. No, they were too far away. Even the pup's excellent sense of smell wouldn't pick him up this far out. He relaxed, belly sinking into the impacted snow as the Water Tribe girl ran back and forth, allowing her pup to give chase. The child was young, only four now, and newly announced as the Avatar.

It was so early in the announcement that the White Lotus hadn't whisked her away to any academy or palace as of yet. Prominent masters were showing their respects and jockeying to be picked as her first teachers. Nobody was selected yet, so she was still allowed to live with her parents in their village until it was decided where she would go to learn waterbending first.

'But not without a few of those pesky White Lotus,' Zaheer sneered to himself. He huffed out, an exhale of mist leaving his lips.

The finding of a new Avatar reborn in the cycle gave many cause for joy and rejoicing. Zaheer didn't see it that way. He saw only dread and possibly future doom. Eternal binding to a raw force that would inspire others to force the weak down. No…. that couldn't happen again.

And that would end today. Zaheer tensed, feeling anticipation flex through his resting muscles. The weather was good and the White Lotus sentries seemed relaxed. Unalaq had been accurate in his reports for the laxness meant a changing of their guard. The time to strike would be soon.

Just now, Zaheer noted only two visible White Lotus on the distant horizon, keeping apparent watch on their young charge rolling in the snow with her pet. Unalaq had promised that the rest would be in the village with the girl's parents.

Spirits, the girl was closer to HIM than her two guards were. Korra, Zaheer had to remind himself. The child's name was Korra. But that name was interchangeable with Prey to him. She was going to be his, whether she knew it or not.

It was all going to work….he could feel it.

"Let go your earthly tether…..Enter the Void…Empty and become Wind…" Zaheer murmured quietly under his breath. These snatches of philosophy from Guru Lahima were all he would take from Avatar Aang's culture. He considered the work the previous Avatar had done with the Fire Nation Colonies in the Earth Kingdom, as well as Republic City's birth, to be sham attempts at change and peace.

Too little, too late.

Well, why not change how that would go with the new Avatar? An untrained four year old should prove far more tractable than a teenage or adult hostage. It WOULD have to be now.

They had been watching for days, waiting for good breaks in the weather. Today had dawned frigidly cold with only the barest hint of clouds in the sky. No snow storms tonight. Coupled with Unalaq's report about the changing of the Avatar's guard and it seemed the time was ripe. He had announced to the other three this morning it would be today or soon, and they hadn't complained.

In fact, they were only too eager to hide in the icy tundra since before dawn to wait for a chance. Zaheer had liked the look in their eyes this morning. P'li, tall and smiling bloodthirstily, Ghazan's eager grin and the frenzied hunger in Ming-hua's eyes. Yes, they would suffer the elements today and however long it took to capture the Avatar.

They all had their reasons.

Zaheer raised his face from the snow and pursed his lips. He whistled, imitating a bird's song, to convey a calling for his comrades to approach his spot. He counted to thirty….then abruptly stood, a very noticeable figure suddenly appearing as if by magic, and made his walk down to the Avatar as casual as he could.

Any moment those two guards could turn around and see him…. Zaheer had known true fear once, as a child. He hadn't felt this twinge of emotion for many years. His legs wanted to lock up and despite the cold, a line of sweat trickled down his spine beneath his furs.

Casual…slowly… he was so close he could see that Korra had her hair tied back in pigtails; probably by a loving mother. They had come loose in her play with the polar bear dog, and her hood lay back against her neck. The pup in question noticed him before Korra did. She stood between man and child, fur rankling as she growled a warning at the stranger.

Korra only laughed and ran small mittened hands along the pup's fur. "Calm down, Naga! Hi, mister. She doesn't bite!" she exclaimed with the confidant air of a well-loved child.

Zaheer almost felt sorry for her. She was so young and suffering was unknown to her. She greeted him as a friend, as most young children do before they learned to listen to their parent's warnings. Zaheer made himself smile back to further add to the misguided trust she showed him.

"I'm afraid I need some help. My sled broke down and I need some aide in fixing it," he lied smoothly. Korra's brow furrowed, no doubt trying to imagine how she should help the imagined scenario. Take her… NOW…..while she was relaxed!

"Well, you should come to my house! Mommy will make you a tea and Daddy is the strongest man in the village!" Korra announced proudly, beaming at her solution. Zaheer continued to smile even as his eyes flicked over the top of the child to the horizon. The outlines of the two guards hadn't shifted; they still hadn't noticed. He couldn't chance it any longer.

"But aren't you Korra? The Great Avatar? I would be honored if you came with me and helped me fix it yourself! And I know you could," Zaheer gushed warmly, and he smiled internally when Korra beamed. She puffed her chest out and moved beside him.

"I'm the Avatar! I can do anything!" she agreed. Zaheer held out his hand and Korra laid her large mitten into his gloved grip. "Let's go!"

"Let's," Zaheer agreed and they began walking. Too slowly for his taste. Up against the other horizon, three figures stood waiting. His crew. They waited casually, so as not to alarm the child. Only her pup showed any distress, whining at Korra's side as they walked along.

Korra only grinned at her pet. "It's okay, Naga! We'll go home soon!"

Zaheer raised a brow. "Perhaps it would be best if your polar bear dog waited for us."

"Huh?" Korra looked up at him, confused.

"Well, the job wouldn't be suitable for such a spunky puppy. She can sit and wait. Do you know how to make her sit?" Zaheer suggested. Korra nodded widely and held one hand out and lowered it to her side.

"Sit, Naga! Sit! I'll be riiiiight back."

On command, Naga sat on her rump, tail wagging. She began to whine more and more the further Korra got from her. The girl looked over her shoulder, chewing on her lower lip.

"It won't be too long, will it, mister?" she asked. She was worried for Naga. Those big black eyes were watching her with love and longing. She wanted to be back at her side.

Zaheer laughed softly to ease her worries about the dog.

"No, it won't take long! Come along, Korra. We're almost there," Zaheer promised. Korra swung his hand in wide arches as they climbed the snowy bank to the others. Ghazan looked highly amused, a smile pulling the edges of his mustachio.

"Well, this is proving far too easy," he commented idly to Zaheer. Zaheer smiled back, feeling excitement course through his veins. Korra looked from face to face and apparently didn't feel any hint of danger. She moved with them easily over the top of the snow ridge and further away.

"Come on, little girl, we should hurry," Ming-hua said casually. Korra looked up at her, staring curiously at the slack sleeves of her fur coat. Zaheer knew she had her canteens tied around her torso beneath the coat, but she wasn't waterbending so as not to attract any attention from the kid that was necessary.

Not until they were away at least.

"What's wrong with your arms?" Korra's lower lip quivered. The sleeves hadn't moved at all as they walked along. Ming-hua and P'li looked at each other and the smaller woman shrugged one shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, kid. This is how I come. Let's go," she urged. P'li glanced casually behind them as they trudged along, way too slowly, to match the four year old's gait.

"We should really hurry," P'li murmured lightly. The two White Lotus guards were moving down to the snow valley behind them. Frantic barking from the polar bear pup resounded with calls from the two men.

Korra looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, those are just my two guards. They really don't….."

Zaheer knew a fight was imminent and speed was more pressing than surprise now. He bent and hoisted Korra to his shoulder and began to run.

"Stay with us, Avatar. We need to go," Zaheer said. Korra looked alarmed and confused now, wildly looking over his shoulder toward the scrambling guards in dark robes climbing the ridge beneath them. Naga was climbing with them, barking for her. Something was wrong now, and she could feel the alarm reflected in the White Lotus guard's eyes.

"What's going on? Put me dooooown!" she shrieked. Ghazan huffed as they began to run full out now.

"Well, that didn't last long!" he complained. Ming-hua scowled as they ran hard.

"Just…shut up…and run!" she hissed.

Their sled was further back, and it was not damaged in the slightest. They needed to reach it and get to the shore. Unalaq's ship was waiting for them. Zaheer's vision began to narrow as they ran hard, the sled appearing in the horizon. A team of penguin-dogs were hitched up and ready to run. Korra's screams wailed in the distance as his mind shut out all annoyances and focused on the goal. Keep running…..running….almost there!...

"Shit!" Ghazan cursed as the White Lotus reached the top of the ridge and one began blasting fireballs. Well, at least was a firebender. That was now apparent. Couldn't focus on that now. "I can't bend the earth under this ice to lava!"

Zaheer flicked his eyes to the side at his friend. Korra's flailing limbs got in the way and he bodily tucked her under his arm against his side to trap her there. "We knew that getting into this. Just do what you can!"  
Ghazan turned back, Ming-hua turning immediately to stand at his side. P'li stopped and pushed her hood back. The earth roiled and pushed up jagged blocks of earth covered with ice beneath the guard's feet, and water was erupting from Ming-hua's sleeves to freeze them into place. The other White Lotus turned out to be a waterbender, for he began to push the ice back from their feet.

"Give back the Avatar!" they commanded. P'li laughed out loud. She stared hard at them, all heard an audible click-clicking, rather like a Satomobile backfiring. The stream of fire arching from her third eye was not a backfire, aiming directly toward the struggling guards. The fire struck true and the two guards flew back from the explosion. They landed sprawled like rag dolls. One was definitely out but the other tried to get back up, hand reaching.

"STOP!" he cried. Zaheer had no idea where the polar bear dog was, but after that attack, he would be betting she wouldn't be after them.

P'li laughed as she and her comrades turned back to run. They wouldn't be getting up for some time, but it would only be their luck if someone went looking for them in the near future.

Zaheer and Ming-hua jumped on the waiting sled and Ghazan ran to take the bit from the lead penguin-dog's maw.

"Go, go!" he commanded, jumping onto the front of the sled. Zaheer and Ming-hua were having a handful of a time holding onto the girl. He concentrated on whipping the team into a run.

P'li stood tall and watching at the rear of the sled. Only when it seemed they weren't being followed, at least right now, she crouched down behind Zaheer.

"Will you shut up, brat?" she hissed. Korra was screaming and calling for her father and her polar bear dog.

"Daddy! Naga! DADDDDEEEEEEEEE!"

Zaheer winced as she was right next to his ear. "You will be silent!" he commanded. Korra took a deep breath to begin screaming again when Ming-hua forced her water arm against her mouth. She gently applied pressure, the water freezing against the child's lips. Korra stared at the flowing water arm, and then in tears up to Zaheer's scowling face. Since she couldn't scream any longer, tears flowed from her wide blue eyes.

"See what you get? Now sit down!" Ming-hua scowled.

Ghazan whoofed and applied the whip to the penguin-dogs. "Finally!" he muttered. "Good job, sweetness."

Ming-hua flashed him what Zaheer could only term was "a look" and held onto Korra's face with her icy fingers. "Oh, you shut up too….."

Ghazan laughed as the sled ran smoothly over the ice and snow. The shoreline was up ahead.

At the lone dock, one ship was waiting. A tall man with long dark hair and an elegant fur-lined robe stood. He smiled ruefully as the four men and women halted the sled and abandoned it, jogging up the gangplank toward him.

"I take it you had some trouble?" Unalaq asked. Zaheer brushed past with the shaking girl tucked under his arm. Ming-hua kept pace with her icy grip, then relaxed her waterbending as the doors to the ship were closed behind them.

"Better than could be expected. We should go; a lapse in the guard won't mean anything when they discover their unconscious comrades," Zaheer said. Korra wailed in fear and confusion as she was carried to a cabin and dropped unceremoniously inside. Unalaq locked the door. He had only met his niece once a couple of years ago when he was visiting the South Pole, and he hadn't been impressed then either. And she really had no idea who he was, anyways. Better to leave it that way.

"Well, you're here. To Yin first?" Unalaq asked. Zaheer leaned against the hallway and pushed his hood back. He ran a hand through his short ruffled hair, catching his breath. He nodded.

"Yes. We need to hide with her until we establish a foothold in the world. You will be elevated significantly for helping us," Zaheer said. P'li pushed through Unalaq's guards to put an arm around his shoulders. Zaheer grinned up at her.

"We did it," he said. Happiness seeped through his voice. P'li nodded.

"Now we have to keep her. Shouldn't we tie her up? She's going to make a mess of that room," she said.

Ming-hua laughed. "She's only four. And she can't bend all the elements yet. Don't be a ninny, P'li."

P'li shot her a look, then the two wound up laughing it off. They got along well that way. Ghazan peeped into the door slit, watching Korra beat on the walls, screaming.

"Besides, we have all the time we need to train her. She ain't gonna be doing that for long," he murmured. Unalaq waved a languid hand as he strolled off to the captain's chambers. His guards fell in behind him.

"That's up to you now. We agreed her day-to-day would be your responsibility," he called over his shoulder.

"Shall we retire?" P'li asked Zaheer. He nodded, his eyes narrowed in thought.

"Briefly. Then we need to begin work on her."

"You make me wait too long for you," the tall woman complained as the pair walked down the hallway to their cabin.

"When a love is as good as ours, the waiting can only add to it," Zaheer commented. P'li stooped to plant a kiss on his stubbly cheek.

Ghazan closed the door slit and turned to Ming-hua. She looked like she wanted to get in there and start disciplining their charge.

"Cool it, Ming-hua. She's not going anywhere."

The woman's eyes flashed up to his laughing gaze. "Not unless we get away and hide our asses off! If we don't succeed, we'll never see the light of day again."

"That is not gonna happen, sweetness. We got the Avatar. Now we just gotta hide her," Ghazan said. Ming-hua's cheeks flushed abruptly to redness.

"I told you not to call me that!" she hissed under her breath.

Ghazan made an elaborate turn to the left and right of the hallway. "No one I can see. Come on, we need to rest."

"We have separate cabins, don't we?"

Ghazan sighed. "Yes. We do."

End for now

End Notes: OKAY OKAY this killed me to do. I actually like a complicated villain story, but in the process, a four year old had to really get captured. And poor Naga! I love dogs and animals so it killed me to have her pushed back like that. I have my own Naga plushie beside me to encourage me while I wrote it. What did you think? Like it, hate it? Let me know!

Sincerely yours, penpaninu 2/21/15


	2. Zaheer's Past: The Factory

Author disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Korra baddies or their likenesses! Only the backgrounds did I try to think up.

Author note: The world of Avatar the Last Airbender and Korra have been established by Bryke as coming from a 19th century type world setting to the 1920's in Korra. Industrial technology improved productivity by leaps and bounds by the late 19th century, but with decrepit human working conditions. That type of human beleaguering in the name of progress to me embellishes Zaheer's past. As a non-bender, and from a poor surrounding, he would have to find some kind of work to get by, hence the factory in this chapter. When the power belongs to the select few, you can see where his anti-society sentiments would begin.

"Alternate years"

Chapter two "Zaheer's past: The Factory"

"Oh, she's really pissed," P'li commented. She was peering through the door slit at a huffing Korra who laid sprawled on her back in the cabin. The room was as trashed as she had predicted, with small scorchmarks along the walls. The sheets had been torn off the bed and thrown about and the four year old lay tangled in them in a moment of fugue.

Zaheer scratched his jaw beside her and met her eyes with a grin. They had sated their excitement and release an hour ago but didn't lay around languishing in their passion as they usually did. They were up and ready to see the Avatar as soon as they could.

"So how you wanna play this? You're probably already Bad Cop with being the one who nabbed her," P'li observed. Zaheer ran a hand through his short hair, thinking.

"And I was hoping Ghazan would do that role and I would be the better half. Well, you are a woman, P'li."

His girlfriend slammed a fist against his shoulder. It hurt as well as a man's punch. "You just figured that out in our cabin?" she joked.

Zaheer pressed against her front, looking up into her eyes to assuage her anger. "I have always noticed you," he confessed. The combustion bender's eyes softened as she gazed down at him.

"Well, how is me being a woman supposed to be the better role for the Avatar?" P'li asked. She slid her arms low around Zaheer's waist. Zaheer leaned up to press his lips to hers.

"Just try to recall a motherly instinct. She'll be looking for a friendly face after all that," Zaheer suggested. P'li smiled wryly.

Korra's eyes flashed open when the cabin door unlocked. She scrambled to her feet as the tall woman stepped in. She was staring at her in an intense way and it didn't make her feel too good. Korra pooched her lower lip out and stood with her feet apart in a wide stance.

"Where's my Mommy and Daddy?" she asked petulantly. P'li tried to smile as calmly as she could.

"Are you hungry, Korra?" she asked. Korra opened her mouth, closed it and sucked on her lower lip.

"Yes….but I wanna go hooooome," she confessed, sitting down on her rump as the dread threatened to engulf her again. She hugged her knees to her chest. The tall lady had been with the scowling man who had told her to make Naga sit, but she hadn't done anything to her.

Zaheer chose that time to duck in behind P'li. Korra's eyes widened up at him, then she scowled.

"I wanna go home! NOW!" she thrust her hands up in a desperate striking motion. Small spurts of flame erupted from her fingertips in untrained arches. P'li stood in front of Zaheer, calmly deflecting the spurts away. So the Avatar could touch some of the elements even untrained. She would be impressive once fully trained.

"Calm down, Korra. I promise, we will go to where it's safe," Zaheer said smoothly. His voice could calm most people and it even served to deflate some of the child's ire. She tensed, relaxed her arms, and held her hands out in stance again.

"I want my Mommy and Daddy!" she called out and chewed her lower lip. Zaheer watched her impassively.

"A good life won't be foreign to you if you calm down," he suggested. "Wouldn't you like some roast turtle-duck and potatoes to eat? I know you're hungry."

The little girl's stomach growled despite herself. She hugged her middle and sat in the pile of sheets on the floor. "Okay…."

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Zaheer asked. He left the cabin, leaving P'li with the Avatar. Peering back through the door slit, he noticed Korra edge somewhat closer to the tall woman who sat on the edge of the cabin's bed. Isolation were key in establishing trust. Food and rest would also tell Korra that she could trust the people she was with. It wouldn't mean she wouldn't be without either if she struggled against being indoctrinated, however.

Zaheer recalled that lack of food would make anyone do about anything. This recalled nugget of information from his youth would come in handy now. Yes, if Korra wouldn't cooperate and trust them, she could do without a few meals as well.

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"Boy! Get up!"

Zaheer opened his eyes and sat up as fast as he could. His father was stinking drunk again and in another foul mood. He shoved his blankets off his legs and stood, his body lanky and thin. Skinny arms protruded from his dirty tunic.

"I'm up, Dad. I'm up," he muttered. The tall long-haired man glowered at his son and took a sip from a large ceramic bottle in his hand.

"Finally, lazy bum. Get going to the factory! The foreman won't pay you and we won't eat if you don't go," he growled.

Zaheer sighed and took the lid off a pot on the hearth. He stirred the spoon resting inside and took a few bites of lukewarm stew. The pot had been sitting there for two days now. It wasn't like his father cared about supplying any food for him and he had to eat where he could find his meals.

"I know…I know… it's how we eat," Zaheer said, and stood up, pulling on a heavier over tunic. His father scowled. His pulled up one pant leg and tapped the bottle against the limb of wood beneath.

"It's not my fault those firebender soldiers maimed me! I can't work in the factory now, and you know it," he griped. Zaheer paused to draw a ladle of water from the bowl resting on the kitchen table. He would have to draw his father more water from the well before he went to work to last the day, so he collected the wooden bowl up in his arms.

"I know, Dad. I know." His head was starting to hurt and his mouth opened in a long yawn. Long hours of hot exhausting work coupled with yelling from his sole family member made Zaheer want to split his head open. There was no relief from this life that he could see.

It was all he knew. Avatar Aang and Firelord Zuko had tried to pour money into the Fire Nation colonies left in the Earth Kingdom, supplying monetary funding for factories and other businesses to make the Colonies thrive. And it may have worked in the other Colonies, but in his town, Zaheer saw only decline.

No one official would visit and while the factory was prosperous, the people of the village were locked into long hours without breaks in downright inhumane conditions. Zaheer's job as a child had been to pull sticks and other debris from the arduous cogs of the factory's machines to ensure a smooth operation. Some children had lost fingers or broken their hands inside the parts if they weren't careful. Zaheer worked slowly so as not to suffer the same fate, and the overseer hated him for it. He had taken to standing behind him with a switch, and nicked his bare legs from time to time if his nimble fingers didn't unclog the wheels fast enough.

His legs were scarred from behind. Zaheer would not risk working faster and becoming crippled like his childhood friends. He would suffer the blows.

Now, he stumbled down the porch of their hut to stagger to the communal well. Several huts in the district all shared it, and a bucket had been tied with a rope to the area, to prevent anyone from stealing it. Zaheer blinked several times as he stood in place in line. He spotted several neighbors and childhood friends. All those same friends waved in greeting, but all didn't speak to him much. They didn't speak much to anyone, as they blinked tired eyes ringed by dark circles. They were all doing what they could for their families and Zaheer knew he wasn't the only one with a useless father who had taken to the bottle. Other of his friends had older siblings who were benders, and they had gone off to join the teams building districts in Republic City. Several were put to use building Air Temple Island, Zaheer knew.

He wished with all his heart he were going there. He tried to do his meditations late at night before bed like the Air Nomads did, and read anything on their philosophy that he could find. The local school had been shut down by the factory's overseers, so there wasn't much he could do about finding any more than the scrolls his friends saved for him from those missing older siblings in Republic City. If he were a bender…..he wouldn't be waiting in line in the dirt for a bucket of water and then going to what accounted to no more than slavery in a crude factory. He would have been selected for the building teams in the City.

But he wasn't a bender. No getting around that. Zaheer sighed and lowered the rope attached to the bucket into the hole in the ground. He heard a distant splash and then dipped the rope. He pulled, feeling the heaviness in the bucket, and drew upward. Catching a full bucket of water in one thin arm and trying not to slosh it all over the dirt was a feat when he was so tired he was seeing almost double.

"Hurry up, Zaheer!" a young mother griped behind him. Zaheer nodded and trudged past, holding onto his father's wooden bowl with both arms. He carefully made his way home and set it on the porch ledge.

"Here's the water, Dad," he called dutifully. His father slid open the side door from the main family room and scowled at him.

"About time, boy. Now git goin'!" he growled. Zaheer caught the jacket his father tossed him and trudged along, low shoes stained black by the charcoal in the factory. He walked as quickly as he could, falling in with the other boys and girls. The tall iron chimneys of the factory spewed black smoke day and night. Zaheer had never been to the Spirit World, but he imagined that must be what the Seven Layers of Hell looked like. He kept his gaze low and pulled his jacket around himself tighter. The weather was cooling and the winters inside the factory were nothing to scoff at.

You would think with close proximity to all those machines you would find a warm area to work with. But outside of the blast furnace rooms, there were too many nooks and crannies where the cold could seep in. Zaheer waited to write his mark on the scroll of names to mark his arrival on time, and filed in with the other children.

One of the overseers marched into the tall room where they were lined up and stopped. He held a ledger against his skinny chest and his twig like fingers ran through his long hair. Zaheer watched him impassively. This was a prime example of production falling through the cracks. The man was positively ugly, but put all his pride at looks into his hair. It was long, luxurious and always gleaming with scented oils. He was never without one of the factory's girls at his side, and Zaheer could only guess what he wanted them for.

His looks aside, the overseer, one of twenty, was as ugly in character as he was physically. His only calm words were for his female "assistants"; anything else he said, he spewed venom. This venom was reserved for the child laborers, the older matrons on assembly, the fathers still able to work, really anyone below his station. And it rankled Zaheer more than he could express.

And now, he was standing, ledger clutched to his chest with one hand, skinny finger twining through his hair with the other. He then used that same finger to wipe the edge of his long nose before purposely clearing his throat.

"What's his problem today?" the boy behind Zaheer murmured. Zaheer visibly shrugged in front of him, to show he had no clue.

"Weeeeeeell, today we're trying something different. All the overseers had us a LOVELY meeting," the overseer began. His nasally voice grated on Zaheer's frayed nerves. He really could use some sleep.

'I'll bet you did,' he thought. He tried not to scratch the back of his leg with one foot. His dull eyes picked out bright brass buttons on the overseer's clean coat.

"Today, you will all learn the value of team work." At his words, strange clanking noises sounded at the rear of the room. Zaheer peered over his shoulder in line, as did all the children and the looks on their faces told him the situation was not a normal one.

"Today, we will begin our duties linked together in one line. You will all work and move as a team, or suffer as a team," the overseer smirked. The thin girl at his side looked tormented, as she gazed at her neighbors. Three factory workers were carrying chains with manacles up the line, and stopping at each person to affix a manacle to each thin right ankle.

This couldn't be happening. This really couldn't be happening. A million litanies similar to this sped through Zaheer's mind, but the cold metal clanking around his bare skin, his pant leg pushed up by the worker, proved to be cold hard reality. Zaheer stood on his left leg and shook his right. The metal was closed tight on his flesh, with hardly a half inch to spare. And he was linked to the child in front and behind him, on and on to the front of the row of kids. There was no getting out of the manacles unless he were unlocked from them. A bad feeling tore his stomach; he felt like he was going to be sick.

"Mr. Overseer?" one of the girls deigned to ask what every child had to be thinking. "What if we have to go to the restroom?"

The overseer smirked. "I suggest you hold it. Now let's move."

Zaheer's mind blended to a place of cold panic. Just move…..walk with the one in front…. When the boy in front moved half a step earlier, Zaheer almost tripped and fell. With their shuffling movements, the line could only go so fast and the overseer almost skipped beside them as they trudged along.

"I suggest you all learn to move together!" he snapped, his tone waspish. Zaheer felt a slow hatred burn in his chest. He inhaled slowly and exhaled to match, a slight meditative breathing technique he'd read from the Air Nomads. The line of chained children stopped beside the side of a machine as tall as the cavernous room. They were to collect debris from the lower part they were stopped against. The overseer sat on an offered stool his daily girl set down for him and crossed one foot over his knee.

"Begin!" he called. The thin girl waited at his side, small hands clasped before her waist. Zaheer and the others peered into the machine bits, and tried to place their fingers in between the cogs carefully. The machine was in operation on the other side, and small bits of metal moved in rotation before their eyes. You had to be quick and careful to keep your fingers.

Zaheer bit his lip and wedged his thumb and forefinger around a metal wheel. His fingertips found bits of leaves and twigs. He carefully pulled the debris out and dropped it into a bucket at his left side. These buckets were spaced in intervals along the row of children and Zaheer had to share this one with the boy in front of him. Small chirping noises accelerated in sound as his fingers pinched in deeper. Zaheer was surprised to feel warm feathers ruffle against his fingers. He pulled out a small bird and gaped down at it in surprise. The newborn bird chirped at him raucously, and he felt a smile pull at his lips.

Who knew a bird could build a nest in these machines? Zaheer was just wondering what to do with it when the overseer grabbed it from his open palm.

"Hey!" Zaheer yelled. The overseer smacked him openly with his free hand. Zaheer fell to one knee, his cheek burning.

"I'll take care of this, just get back to work, dimwit!" he shrieked. The girl at his side looked appalled. She looked like she was going to say something to the overseer, when her pretty dark eyes fell to the manacle encircling Zaheer's right ankle. She bit her lip and lowered her head.

Zaheer didn't blame her. Why offer to be manacled when you could have a few free days from work? But it still didn't make her decision hurt him any less.

"Yes, sir," Zaheer ground between grit teeth. The girl's eyes were huge and sorry as she turned to follow him back to his stool.

The day was long and arduous. Zaheer accepted half a meat bun from the factory workers passing out the noon meal and the children all ate standing. It was a good thing the water girl only went down their line twice throughout the day or he would be bursting to use the facilities.

A girl further down the line didn't fare so well. She had cried to the overseer she had to pee and he deliberately ignored her. So she had wet her clothing, tears streaming down her face. It was all she could do, chained to everyone. Zaheer took off his coat and passed it up the line to her. The girl flashed a grateful smile over her shoulder and tied it around her wet waist. Zaheer knew he would have to wash the coat once it was returned, but that was to be expected.

The end of the work day was coming and Zaheer picked his right foot up, rattling his manacle and chain. The boy in front of him was doing the same.

"Hey, can we all try to walk right foot first at the same time?" a boy four up called back. Several children called back in response.

"I don't wanna trip this time," the boy behind Zaheer agreed. Zaheer rubbed sweat out of his eyes with his wrist and nodded. He could feel moisture seeping through his short hair, creating sticky rivulets down his neck and into his collar.

The overseer came back, a frosty drink cradled with his twig like fingers. "Okay, that's the day. Move forward!" he called.

The kid at the front of the line tapped his right foot up and down, shaking his manacle. Everyone could hear the clank clank from where they were.

"Forward right! Three, two….now"! he called and stepped forward with his right foot. Every child in the line stepped forward, right first, and the chain made an audible CLINK! Their unison sounded good, Zaheer noted as they stepped with the left, and then the right as one unit.

He flicked a glance to the overseer and the ugly man did not like what he was seeing. He was sucking his fat lower lip obscenely, a scowl darting across his features.

Zaheer turned his head back front, and clanked in unison with the others. Out of the cavernous machine room, a factory worker was waiting with a set of keys. He fastidiously crouch-walked down the line, unlocking every ankle from the manacles as he crabbed along.

The girl who had pissed herself shyly gave him his coat back. "I'm sorry if it's damp," she apologized. Zaheer surprised himself by rubbing his thumb across the soot along her cheek, cleaning it off. The girl flushed bright red.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. See you tomorrow," he said. The girl nodded, smiling happily at the brief touch. Zaheer felt something warm move in his chest until he felt a sharp crack across the back of his bare shins. He fell screaming in surprise, then pain, when the cuts from the switch opened and he felt warmth seep down the back of his legs.

"Think you're hot stuff, do ya? You'll regret that!" the overseer shrieked. Zaheer raised an arm above his head to protect himself but the ugly man was going for his legs again, cutting open old scar lines with his bamboo switch. Zaheer shouted as fresh blood dotted the sand on the factory floor.

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Zaheer waited at the door of the chamber holding the avatar and a servant finally brought him a rather large plate, with steaming turtle-duck and plumped potatoes cradled high. He commanded the servant to wait at call at the door and entered the room. The avatar was sitting very close to P'li's leg, almost leaning her brow against the edge of her long tunic, until she noticed him.

"Can I see Mommy and Daddy?" the girl whimpered. P'Li raised an eyebrow to her lover.

Zaheer let his face fall impassive. He casually held the china plate in one hand, then opened the door and handed it back to the servant outside. The servant stood there waiting, looking confused.

"They are not your concern any longer, Avatar. Do you want to eat?" he asked. Korra's eyes brimmed with tears and she sniffled, head moving up and down. Her small stomach growled audibly.

"Yes…." She admitted.

Zaheer gestured with one hand and the servant sighed, setting the plate of warm food back into it.

"Then your Mommy and Daddy don't belong with us," he said sharply. Korra's eyes, wet with tears, met his in confusion. But he did set the plate and a fork down on the carpet. She knelt down and begin to eat in big bites.

P'li watched her carefully. The child pulled the plate next to her leg and almost leaned against her as she ate. Zaheer raised a brow and met her eyes. Korra was already latching onto a somewhat friendly face. This would prove useful in their training.

"Get her some water, Zaheer," P'li suggested. Zaheer nodded and called to the servant to fetch a glass. Korra smiled around her food at the tall woman. Zaheer noted this. Luxury was allowed at her command, it seemed to the child. Again, very useful.

P'li rested a large hand against Korra's dark head. "Do you want to learn firebending first?" she asked. Korra nodded.

End for now

End note: Just for the record, kidnapping children is not okay with me. But it is fun to get into the baddie's more human side.

Sincerely, penpaninu 3/14/2015


	3. Cruel Tutelage

Author's Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of "The Legend of Korra", they belong to Bryke and Nickelodeon.

Author's notes: Bolin said in Book Three that he guessed "Ghazan was raised by an older sister, his mustache grew in at age ten and he had an unspoken attraction to Ming-hua". To which Ghazan responded "two out of three, not bad." I'm guessing he meant the mustache part. Villain stories are fun! And when you have to MAKE yourself say the word "villain" describing these characters and it feels like a stretch, the characters are more than in the shade of grey; they're compelling and they're people. That's why I love this series so much. Story is key!

"Alternate years"

Chapter three "Cruel Tutelage"

The stooped woman climbed the stairs to the house surrounded by ice. Three White Lotus guards flanked the front door and their eyes scanned her from top to bottom severely. Katara didn't blame them. They had messed up severely in watching their charge. The new Avatar was missing and Katara worried for her. She had just met her last week and it was unspoken from Tonraq that she would be her waterbending teacher. That wasn't important right now.

Katara was a master second and a mother first. And right now, Korra's mother would need all the support she could get.

"Master Katara! Just let us announce you….."

"That's fine," Katara interrupted him. "I've already met Tonraq and Senna. Please, just let me in."

The guards opened the front door. Katara carefully pushed the door open the rest of the way and entered. A fire was blazing in the main room hearth and the man before it looked up.

"I thought I told the White Lotus to announce everyone," he rumbled. Katara stepped closer and looked up into Tonraq's somewhat crazed eyes.

"It's only me, Tonraq. I've come for Senna. Is she….." she began. Tears filled the man's eyes. He was stout in frame and muscular to boot, but his eyes nakedly pleaded with the old woman to help him where he felt he had failed.

"She has fallen apart! Not that I blame her. If they hurt my girl…." He choked, tears sliding down his cheeks. Katara reached up and laid her palm against his face.

"I'm here to help. Where is she?" she asked. Tonraq gestured wordlessly to the next room. Katara moved slowly, her gait shuffled. Her knees ached now and she could only move so fast. That she had been considered to be Korra's water bending master was an honor and she knew she would learn to love the girl as well as her own children. But…..

"Leave me alone!" a harried voice screeched at Katara's knock. Katara set her jaw and opened the door. The room was dark and through the slants of light from the main room, Katara could see the woman inside lay collapsed on a bed. She rose to sit up, long hair unbraided. A white polar bear pup lay curled at the foot of the bed, ears laid low.

"I told you worthless Lotus to go away!" she continued. Katara cleared her throat.

"It's me, Senna….."

"Katara?" Senna's voice lost its edge. Katara shut the door and advanced carefully. Her shuffling steps carried her over fur rugs and clothing and she made it to the edge of the bed. The pup sprang to her feet and sniffed Katara's coat. She whined.

"I'm here for you. Oh, my darling, I know the pain that you're in."

"How? Your husband was the Avatar. Your kids were well protected," Senna laughed humorlessly. "But my child….."

"She IS the new Avatar and will always be a target throughout her life. As my husband was," Katara ran a hand through Senna's tangled hair. "Those terrorists will be caught. We're going to find your little girl. I promise."

As the broken mother grieved in her lap, Katara hoped she hadn't just told a lie.

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Ghazan would never know the involuntary lie Katara had told the girl's parents. Unalaq's ship docked at a private port at the edge of the Earth Kingdom and they rode by horse to a manor owned by one of the more influential Red Lotus members. The girl rode with P'li on her horse, firmly held in front of the tall woman by strong arms and legs. She had opted to cooperate thus far, and Zaheer hadn't tied her hands or feet. Ming-hua whispered to him before leaving that P'li had been with her half the night. The Avatar may have begun a bond with her.

'And see how Zaheer uses it. I'm not surprised,' Ghazan thought. He smiled. They all wore long robes and hoods, even the child, and the trails they used were mainly deserted and only known by the locals. They passed the odd farmer or two, but no military, White Lotus, or other heavy traffic.

He could hear the child's voice raised in question and P'li's hushed responses. The girl fell silent and Ghazan raised an eyebrow at her questioning look as they clopped and galloped along. She was doing remarkably well with the Avatar. The whole quest was going almost ridiculously easy. Ghazan's stomach remained tensed, his ab muscles clenched the whole way.

It would be so like the White Lotus to ambush them while they began to relax. He wouldn't ever let up his guard until the main gate of the manor were closed and locked behind them and they were free to begin training the Avatar in secret.

Ming-hua may laugh at him sometimes, but she knew the deadly will behind his easy smiles. And even she saw cause to admire it once in a while.

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"Get up, Ghazan," his sister called. Ghazan sat up in bed, one small fist clenched to squeeze the sleep from his eyes.

"I'm up. How is Mother?" he asked. His sister, Su Yang, stood waiting, smiling as the skinny thirteen-year old got up and stretched to get the kinks out. She had the look of a perpetually tired woman, and she looked older than her twenty years. But she always had a smile for him.

"Mother's awake. I have Zong feeding her this morning. We need to begin the harvest today," she said in a somewhat hurried tone. Ghazan tied his long hair back in a loose tail and she laid a jacket across his shoulders to put on. Ghazan urged his arms into the sleeves and tugged his tunic under his sash as they made their way to the kitchen.

It was a large room, encompassed by the large iron stove and ice chest, and several wooden tables the cook used to prepare their meals.

"Good morning, Ghazan!" their cook said cheerily. She laid two bowls of jook mixed with vegetables on the wooden side table.

"Good morning," Ghazan smiled. His sister handed him a large wooden spoon and both ate quickly, standing in place. She took small glances out the kitchen window at their five hired hands who were already hacking the wheat heartily with their scythes. Their family's farm wasn't the largest in the county, but it was a good-sized one. Their mother had done a fine job of maintaining their farm hands and few servants after their father died when he was very young, but she was sick now.

The healers said it was a tumor of some sort, but Ghazan couldn't remember a time when she wasn't in bed, wan and trying to smile. His sister had assumed her mantle of authority without complaint, but it had to be stressful. So Ghazan had dropped out of school to help her where he could.

It might not be a matter of point, but when she had discovered he could earth bend, it did help their farming considerably. All the field hands were non-benders, and he could funnel irrigation channels for the fields and other physical obstacles with some ease. But he was untrained. Ghazan knew that. He barely knew the basic forms from a scroll his sister had acquired from a kind neighbor. He put his all into his movements, but he knew he could do it better if taught. Without the proper instruction, it felt like he was straining his body just to make a funnel of earth move the slightest bit.

But the farm had to come first, and his sister would find a teacher when they were more financially sound to do so.

"Alright, let's go, sis," he called. Su Yang smiled and they walked out the back door together, leaving the comfortable heat of the kitchen behind.

The field hands hailed both of them and Su Yang handed Ghazan a scythe and took one up for herself. She never shirked from putting in a hard day, and their hands had been on with them for a few years now out of respect and admiration for her.

The day was a long one, but Su Yang had them work in shifts, and brought water herself to the field hands so they wouldn't suffer from the heat. She ran a fair ship and they all worked hard. At the noon meal, all ate standing in the kitchen, crowding it somewhat, and Ghazan took a moment to bring his mother her bowl, and sat and talked with her.

It made him sad his mother was so sick, but he was at an age where tragedy didn't exist. Yes, his father had died when he was younger, but he didn't remember it. And his sister would make sure nothing bad happened to them. Yes, life would continue to be good, even if he did work his small body hard.

The harvest was a grand success and the field hands were happy with the bonuses Su Yang gave them. Even the servants and cook had a nice hand-out and all agreed she was the kindest benefactor they could hope to work for. Ghazan was pleased at the whispered comments and smiles they gave his harried sister. Even she found a few moments to relax and enjoy some of their monetary gain. She bought them all new clothes and bedding, and even a night out to the local theatre to enjoy a play.

Ghazan had gone with Su Yang and Wang, his sister's head field hand, and he wondered if the older man was trying to venture to court her. But it was a fun night and the acrobatics and effects on the stage were incredible. They left in high spirits, and Ghazan wondered if earth bending could have helped edge the stage up when the dragon attacked in the finale.

"Ghazan! Look!" his sister put an arm around him and pointed. In the throngs of the county's people, he could see what looked to be an influential bender hob-knobbing with the crowd. A servant at his side held up a dramatized scroll of the bender with a title beneath.

"Behold the Earth Queen's Favorite! Master Sang the Magnificent," Ghazan read the characters. His sister looked pleased.

"You've been keeping up with your characters. Very good. But don't you know what that means? He might be staying to teach earth-bending! Come on, let's find out for you," Su Yang urged. She pushed forward with the crowd to reach Sang's side, Wang keeping a protective arm over her shoulders.

Ghazan followed more slowly. The earth bending master looked kind of mean. But when his sister shook his hand, he laughed and exuded compliments for her. As his sister went over a monetary fee for his taking up in his class, Sang swept his eyes over Ghazan's skinny form, and bantered easily with her.

Master Sang was indeed setting up in their county, at least for the season. He was opening his school to teach earth benders in the area and the fee wasn't so bad, Su Yang explained later at home. She looked so happy, Ghazan couldn't imagine saying no. He was expected to report to his school first thing in the morning.

"But what about the farm?" Ghazan wondered. "Don't you need me to earth bend the channels tomorrow?"

Su Yang laughed and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about that! You'll be learning from a real master, all the way from Ba Sing Se! When you get back, you'll be even better than before. Wang agreed it was best and he's going to push the others to work extra hard while you're gone. We have the money for your school. Go on, you deserve it."

Ghazan was touched she would spend a portion of the harvest income to enroll him into a master's school, and he was resolved to go to bed early. He would do his best.

The next day dawned bright and Ghazan was already on his way down town. The dirt streets were wider once he left his family's farm and his neighbors were already about their errands, rumbling along in their chicken-horse drawn carriages.

"There he is! Come in, come in," a servant called at the open doors of the school. Ghazan handed him his jacket and stepped over the threshold into the building.

The common room was enlarged and other children were lined up. Master Sang stood at the front.

"Welcome, children. I am Master Sang, specially picked by The Earth Queen. And we have much to learn. First, basic stances."

Ghazan assumed the same stance Master Sang took up, same as the other children. He was beginning to feel happy going through the forms until they were lead to the dirt field behind the school. There they could earth bend with ease and not risk destroying the building.

But when Master Sang raised up a fist-sized rock, he hurled it at the child beside him. Ghazan was too shocked to catch her as she fell. As she lay screaming in pain, Sang raised up another few rocks and held them in midair.

"Forms! Raise the earth!" he commanded. Ghazan bent his head, long hair covering his face. He bit his lip and raised his arms, legs assuming the stance commanded. The dirt raised up beneath his manipulation and a good-sized rock formed. With the proper form, the earth compacted easier, as easy as sand pouring through cupped palms. Before, it had felt like trying to fist that same sand to move where you wanted it to.

Sang walked up and down the line of children, shrewd eyes narrowed as he stared at their stances and made small knees quiver. Ghazan kept his eyes on the ground and said a silent prayer to the Spirits. When Sang stopped in front of him, he finally raised his eyes. Sang's eyes were narrowed, studying him.

"No. Stronger. Like this," Sang touched Ghazan's raised fist and adjusted his stance. One of his hovering rocks slammed suddenly into his side and he sagged to one knee. It hurt worse than being kicked. Ghazan struggled to breathe as Sang walked casually to the next child.

"NO! Stronger!" he screamed to the next child. Ghazan stayed down until Sang came back and forced him to his feet. The world began to spin before his eyes at the sudden jerky movement.

"And don't be sick on my feet!" Sang screamed. Ghazan pursed his lips but vomit threatened to erupt. He turned his head and spewed onto the dirt. Sang brushed a hand along his fine coat and raised another rock. Ghazan had the breath to scream when it slammed suddenly into his shoulder.

The day was a brutal one. As the sun began to set, Ghazan staggered home. Instead of walking up the main road to his house, he took the side road to the fields behind. Wang was sharpening the scythes on a whetstone and looked up, surprised when he spotted Ghazan making his way to the well.

"What happened to you, Ghazan?" Wang set down his scythe and stood up. He peered down into the boy's face and opened the front of his tunic. Ghazan bit his lip when the man's eyes widened. There were darkening bruises all over his torso and shoulders.

"Is earthbending really this hard to learn or did you lose a match?" Wang wondered. He brought the boy over to the well and drew up the bucket.

"I don't know," Ghazan stammered. "I learned some forms and it feels easier. But it's only the first day! It has to be better than this."

"I think I should tell your sister. These are going to take awhile to heal," Wang said, dampening a rag. He leaned in, inspecting one of the bruises. Ghazan yelped.

"No, don't tell her. I'll get better. Master Sang is the best. It has to lead to something better," Ghazan said. When his sister came out of the back door from the kitchen, Wang didn't say a word and Ghazan hurriedly clasped the front of his tunic.

He shouldn't have been so generous. It did not get any better. In fact, it got much, much worse.

All day long, screamed at by Master Sang. All day long, felled by rocks and dirt. He ate so many pebbles, his gums were lined with grit.

"Mountain stance! Again!" Sang would scream. Like clockwork, Ghazan would extend his legs and raise his arms with the other children. Several were getting twitchy, himself included. He was barely getting any sleep. He could still hear the Master screaming in his head at his family's house. And it might just be his imagination, but the dirt beneath his bare feet kept getting hotter and hotter.

'It has to be the sun,' Ghazan panted one day. Beads of sweat broke out along his brow and neck. 'It's making the dirt hot.'

But his bare feet, caked with dirt up to the ankles and bleeding more often than not, were feeling the heat. Sun or not, the dirt beneath him, and only him, seemed scorching to the touch. A child beside him shifted form once and yelped out loud, confirming that it couldn't just be in his head.

'It's hot….really hot!' Ghazan glanced down to his bare feet as he shifted form and winced. 'What's happening?'

"GHAZAN!" Droplets of spit showered across his brow. Ghazan bit his lip to keep from screaming. He flicked his eyes up beneath a curtain of his long hair. Too late, the Master was standing right in front of him. One of his servants was plastered to his side, fanning him with an absurdly huge leaf fan, as the day was hot.

"Yes, Master?" he whispered. His bare toes dug into the dirt. It really was getting hotter and hotter and he could feel beads of sweat forming on his brow. One broke free and cascaded thinly down his cheek.

"The day may be hot, and the dirt will heat up, but never bow! Never bend! Never…..ah!" Master Sang sprang back from Ghazan's stooped form, stepping up as if he were burned. Like his students, he was barefoot to feel the earth. His reaction to the imagined heat beneath him spun Ghazan's mind in crazy arches. It wasn't just him; it wasn't just the student behind him. Was he really doing this? He wasn't a firebender so why was the earth heating beneath him? This was crazy!

"Master, I!..." he began, reaching forward. Master Sang slapped him away and fisted a hand. A chunk of stone formed up and slammed into Ghazan's side. He whuffed and knelt down. When he braced one hand down to support himself, his fingers felt almost singed. He hissed and pulled his hand up.

Sang was staring at him in a very strange way. He ran a hand through his long hair and adjusted his robe, sufficiently at a good distance from Ghazan's feet. "Forms!" he commanded.

The children marched down the dirt fields, moving from one stance to the next. They moved tracks of earth between them as they moved. It was getting easier, but for Ghazan it was only getting hotter.

The afternoon sun began to descend in the sky before Master Sang dismissed the class. Ghazan lined up with the other children to accept their coats from the servants inside, but Master Sang laid a large hand on his thin shoulder.

"You will stay," he commanded. Ghazan looked up into the Master's hooded eyes and gulped.

"Yes, Master."

The other children left and the servants closed the front doors. When they laid the door bolt across the two doors, Ghazan had a very bad feeling. One laid out a tea pot and single cup on the table in the corner and they departed to the kitchen.

Master Sang stood towering over Ghazan and stared down at him. Ghazan chewed his lower lip, not breaking eye contact. What was this about? Sang strolled down to the table and poured himself a cup of tea. He lifted the small cup to his lips and sipped slowly. When he finished, he set the cup down hard on the hardwood table. It made a loud clink.

"What you were doing with the earth today….." he began.

"I don't know what happened, Master. But I can….."

"Shut up!" Master Sang slapped his hand on the table. Ghazan jumped. "I don't know what that was, but it was not proper earth bending! Are you sure you are one?"

Ghazan bit his lip and lowered his head. His long hair pooled over his eyes. "I am! I can do the forms and move the earth!"

"I have no room for firebenders in my school, Ghazan. Show me you can earthbend." He commanded.

Ghazan looked around at the large main room of the building. "In here?" he asked. Sang nodded and gestured empirically with one hand.

"Now. Show me why you should be taught by me."

Ghazan assumed a basic stance and bit his lip. The dirt floor of the building rippled beneath him as he moved. Sang pursed his lips but otherwise he didn't move. Ghazan was almost done with the basic kata when Sang stood up and began spewing obscenities.

"Your stance is passable, but your style is horrendous! Earth bending is strength! How else will you move the earth? Of all the students I have TAUGHT!..."

Here, Sang smacked him and Ghazan raised an arm to cover his head, stunned. "YOU ARE THE WORST! YOU WILL NEVER BE AN EARTHBENDER IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY, YOU…"

As Sang intensified in volume and intensity, Ghazan's mind went white at the edges. His anger and stress rippled around his bare feet and the earth floor around him tinged red. Whatever was going on, he was going to be fine with it, his body decided. It wasn't going to hurt HIM.

Sang noticed the earth beginning to smoke and backed up to the table. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I DIDN'T GIVE YOU WORD TO!..."

Ghazan looked up through his hair and raised his fists up toward his head in a swift motion. His knees widened and he lowered his stance as the earth erupted into fire. Sang began to scream when the explosion of firey earth rippled toward him and licked the edges of his long robe. He tried to run away but Ghazan stomped with one foot and the ground cratered beneath his feet. The fire that erupted from below arched toward the high beams of the ceiling and Sang was engulfed.

Ghazan stared at the swirling firey pieces of earth and a crazy minute later, he lowered his hands. Sang's badly burned form hit the suddenly cooling ground and the fire disappeared at his calm stance. He did it….he really did that….. his crazy circling thoughts spiraled back to the form of the Earth Queen's favorite as he lay moaning into the dirt.

So he wasn't dead. But Ghazan might as well be. He forgot his jacket and unlatched the front doors, running away into the night. He had to get home….he would know what to do when he got there.

Wang greeted him when he ran up into the back fields, but Ghazan ignored him. He ran past, through the back door into the kitchen and down the hall.

"Su Yang! Su!" he managed to call. Zong passed him with an armful of blankets, cocking an eyebrow at his disheveled appearance.

"What's wrong, Ghazan? Your sister is with your mother. I was just changing her bedding…."

Ghazan didn't bother to thank her as he would have in the past; his sense of self was changing after that act of violence and he didn't know into what. He slid the door to his mother's room open and stepped in quickly.

Su Yang was sitting on the edge of their mother's bed, holding her hand. She looked at her brother from head to toe, taking in his shaking, sweating form. He stood bent over his knees, trying to catch his breath from his hard run from danger. Su Yang put their mother's hand down, trying not to wake her. She stood up and touched Ghazan's shoulder.

"What's the matter, Ghazan? What is it?" she whispered. Ghazan took her hand and pulled her to the hall. He couldn't bring this before his sick mother.

"Sis….I…." he gulped, trying to catch his breath. He kept wheezing. Su kept her hand in his and waited patiently.

"Do you need any water?" she asked. She tried to turn him toward the kitchen but Ghazan stayed in place, holding her there. Su's eyes filled with sympathy. "Ghazan, just tell me, what is it? You're scaring me."

"Something happened," Ghazan gulped. Bright spots formed at the edge of his vision. He rubbed his other hand across his eyes. "I…. Master Sang…. I think I hurt him, Su."

Su Yang gasped and took him down the hall to her room. She slid shut the door and grasped his shoulders. "What do you mean? Is he okay? What happened there?"

Ghazan looked miserably up into her widened eyes. He hung his head. "I think I can lava bend….my earth bending was doing something strange and I let it after today. I hurt Sang bad and I don't know if…."

There were noises of activity at the front door of the manor and they heard Zong greeting whoever had arrived. Su Yang and Ghazan locked eyes. She set her jaw and took his hand, leading him down the back hallway to the kitchen.

Zong's voice raised from the front of the house. "You can't go back there! The mistress will decide if you can! Sir! Sir!"

In the kitchen, Su Yang took down a sack and filled it with buns and other food staples. She filled a canteen of water and slung it around his neck. Ghazan kept staring at the hallway, certain Sang's interlopers would erupt into the cozy room any moment. Su Yang grabbed his hand and yanked him to the backyard. She closed the kitchen door behind her and handed him the sack of food.

"You're going to have to leave, brother. Don't worry, once the commotion dies down, come home, PLEASE. Mom's not doing so well and it would just kill her if you were arrested," Su Yang drew him in for a tight hug. When she pulled back, Ghazan saw tears running down her cheeks. His heart dropped into his stomach. It was a literal physical hurt; he felt his guilt throughout his being.

"Su?" Wang walked up from the servant's cottage. He looked perplexed. Su bit her lip but asked him to bring out a sleeping bag and any other tools he could spare.

"Ghazan's gotten into some trouble. He's going to need it," she confided. It touched Ghazan their oldest field hand didn't even question her but did as she bade. When he handed Ghazan his worn knapsack and rolled up sleeping bag, he watched him, eyes sad.

"Come back soon, Ghazan. I'll watch over your sister and the house until you do," he said. Ghazan noted his sister's cheeks flush pink at his words and knew he could trust the man.

"Thank you, Wang. Please, watch over my sister and mother. I'll be back. I promise," Ghazan said. Tears stung his eyes but his rubbed his wrist over them as he turned to walk away, sack in one hand, knapsack over his shoulders. He slung the sleeping roll under his other arm and hurried off into the woods.

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Ghazan never made it back in time. Sang's position with the Earth Queen was not unfounded as his county crawled with her Dai Lee and law enforcement for months, then years, searching for the boy who had injured poor Master Sang so badly that he had died from his burn wounds. Ghazan couldn't go back. When the heat finally relented it was a few years missing from his life when he did have the option to return.

He went back once the Dai Lee left, but their mother was dead. Su Yang had married Wang and it seemed a proper match. The manor was kept up and his sister was taken care of. The stifling guilt never left him and when Su asked if he would stay, Ghazan had refused.

By then he was traveling with Ming-hua. They were still months away from meeting Zaheer at that point but they were in trouble with the law already. It wasn't their fault they physically attacked anyone assaulting someone with their bending needlessly; their faces were painted on wanted ads by most local magistrate all the same. In many Earth Kingdom towns, they saw them and had to keep a low profile.

Ghazan blinked and the years snapped back to the now, as he rode with his comrades and their prey.

The gates to the manor were opened and all of them rode in unencumbered. 'Amazing,' Ghazan thought as they dismounted and servants took up the horses from them. 'No one stopped us, no one knows where we are.'

"Close the gates," he commanded. The servants bowed and the tall wooden doors were clanked shut. Ming-hua laughed and shook her hood back. Her long hair flowed free. Ghazan found himself staring but then one of her water hands slapped him in the face.

"Must you always do that?" he wondered, wiping his wet mustachio. She gave him a hard look.

The child pushed her own hood back and leaned close to tall P'li. "Where are we?" she wondered. She thought about asking for her parents and Naga again, but at least the tall woman was nicer than the water arm woman.

The water arm woman stared at her now. Korra bit her lip and pressed her face into the side of P'li's robe.

"Quit scaring her, Ming-hua," Zaheer teased. Ming-hua retracted her water arms back into her canteens, but continued to stare. Korra tried not to whimper.

Ghazan walked closer to Korra and pushed his hood back. The child stared up his tall figure into his smiling visage. The corners of his mustachio dipped upward when he smiled and they fascinated her.

"P'li will begin your firebending, but we are going to be earthbending together. Won't that be good?" he asked gently. Korra nodded slowly and stared at his tattooed arms when he pushed his sleeves up.

"You're a teacher too?" she asked curiously. Ghazan nodded and extended a large hand down. Korra edged from P'li and eased her small hand into his. His banded blue tattoo arched down his wrist and onto the edges of that hand. She wanted to run her fingers over the inked image to see if it ran off.

He smiled when her small fingers did just that, rubbing over the edge of his large wrist. "Yes, I am a very good earth bender. You will get only the best with me."

As the young Avatar entrusted her hand to his grip, Ghazan knew he would not be a cruel teacher. He would be better than he had gotten. But that would not mean that she would be getting any special treatment.

But useless punishment would not be enforced by him.

End for now

End Notes: Yes, it took me over a year to update. Moved from another state, started a new job in my field and had a lot going on adult wise. Finally, I went back to my writing. "The Legend of Korra" is superb animation and I always rewatch the things I love. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Drop a line if you do.

Sincerely, pen

3/16/2016


	4. The Warlord's Tool

Author Disclaimer: I do not own a thing concerning "The Legend of Korra." Bryke owns all!

Author's note: More abuse, more abuse! When I have to make with the abuse like Bryke, it makes me a little sad. Going to have to simple it down. And yes, it is common for indoctrination methods to give the target a new name but for simplicity's sake, she'll still be Korra or Avatar.

"Alternate Years"

Chapter four "The Warlord's Tool"

P'li sat on the shaded porch of the manor and watched Ghazan with the Avatar. Little Korra had her feet splayed in a strong stance and Ghazan tapped the ground with a switch to match her movements. She moved quickly, lower lip pooched out in concentration. Furrowed earth moved behind her stomping progression. She had begun her firebending and now Ghazan wanted to see what she could do in earthbending. Both at once, why not?

They were overlooking past Avatar training by starting two elements at the same time, but they weren't too concerned with the Avatar cycle of elements.

They would train her as they saw fit.

Padding footsteps approached from behind her and P'li almost jumped when a large hand settled on her shoulder. She glanced up into Zaheer's patient gaze and noted the softness in his eyes when she relaxed. She laid her hand over his and squeezed. Zaheer moved to sit beside her.

"She's going to be a prodigy," he commented, sweeping his gaze toward Ghazan and Korra. Ghazan had assumed his own stances and the child copied him. The earth roiled beneath their feet. P'li nodded, sweeping her gaze over her lover. His tunic was unbuttoned, exposing a taut stomach and chest lined with muscles. She loved his body and the way it felt against hers. Not like all the others before…

And he knew what had happened before he saved her from the Earth Queen's warlord. His understanding and patience made him a man among men in her eyes. It was inevitable she had grown to trust and love him.

"She is. I guess most Avatars show promise as children," she commented. Zaheer picked up on her statement and put his arm around her shoulder. P'li leaned against him, half-closing her eyes. She had been tormented so many times years ago that child-bearing would never be a possibility for her. Zaheer would never get a child from her. That he stayed with her showed the depths of his love. He ran a thumb across her brow, smoothing her bangs away.

"Most do, I suppose. Under our guidance, she will be something more," he promised. P'li nodded, hearing the deeper promise in his words. Their goal for the Red Lotus would bring about a greater good for the world. Unwanted tyrants would be eradicated with the raw power of the Avatar.

Once she was fully trained. They had her; her future was at their talent and disposal.

"She will be. Are you going to be merciful or a torment to her today?" she mused. Zaheer laughed, kissing her brow.

"Nice for now. She'll want to see that in the future if she's punished. So; nice for now," he promised. Korra waved to him and run up to the porch ledge.

"Good morning, Master Zaheer!" she called. Her cheeks were flushed pink with her exertions. "Did you see? I can earthbend!"

"You can," Zaheer agreed, a small smile pulling his lips. "Is Master Ghazan finished for today?"

Korra looked back over to the tall earthbender and waited. He tapped his switch on the ground beside him. She shook her head.

"Nope. He wants me back," she said. Zaheer nodded.

"Go to it," he said. Korra beamed at the smile he gave her and jogged back to Ghazan's side.

P'li's eyes were thoughtful as she watched the child enthusiastically practice her earthbending. "I get the feeling she'll be a very strong woman."

"The physical parts of bending seem easier," Zaheer agreed. "I can teach her some things from Air Nomad philosophy, but when it comes to the actual airbending….."

P'li shook her head. "I doubt Tenzin will agree to aide our cause." Their luck only one other airbender existed. And he would be one of several forces hunting them down. No luck there.

Zaheer laughed humorlessly. "He would rather die than aide us. We'll get over that obstacle. We need not actually know airbending to help teach her."

"Half-baked training for that element," P'li lamented. Zaheer held his hands in an airbender gesture.

"I've studied forms. It'll have to do with a lack of airbenders to pull to the Red Lotus," Zaheer sighed. He watched his girlfriend, eyes soft. "I felt my bed empty this morning."

"I started there; where I went after is my own concern," P'li said, more haughtily than she felt.

"We've been together so many years…." Zaheer took her hand in his. "If you ever need more time, I understand."

"Only some time for myself," P'li flashed a half smile. "You taught me that."

Zaheer smiled. "I did. And I love you."

P'li pecked a kiss against his lips, feeling his stubble against her face. "I love you more."

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"Get up, girl!"

P'li opened her eyes and grimaced. The warlord's mustachioed soldiers were opening her cage again. Bright sunshine hurt her eyes and her thin legs were bruised. She sat up and waited for them to unfasten the manacles from her ankles. Her wrists were kept manacled and her brow was covered with a leather strap, kept in place with smaller chains.

She stood, taller than the tallest soldier, feeling his hatred roil up to her. She was only fourteen but she was taller than everyone else. It must be why they always tried to dominate her.

"You're needed at the front. And then Lord Wing wants to see you," he grinned darkly. P'li shrugged one thin shoulder, even as cold revulsion spread through her skinny form. Her thighs quaked but she made herself walk evenly to the front of the lines of soldiers. Her lineage was Fire Nation, given her touch of bending, but her robe was a tattered green with faded gold edges; colors of the Earth Kingdom. Faded as it was, it stood out against her pale skin. Her bare feet sank into the burning sand as she moved. She paused beneath a standard bearer. The insignia of the Earth Kingdom monarchy rippled against the light morning breeze.

"There she is!"

"They're going down!"

"It's all she's good for….."

The usual rabble of voices whispered excitedly as Lord Wing's captain stopped at her side. He reached up and unlocked the chains around her scalp, drawing the leather band off.

"That band of desert benders. Strike now," he ordered. P'li squinted, making out the band on the horizon who certainly didn't look like a challenge to the Earth Queen's army. In fact, they seemed to be fleeing FROM the army.

A bowl of half-warm food and maybe a glass of water tonight would await her if she obeyed. And maybe only Lord Wing's clammy touches. P'li watched them, unblinking, and stared hard. A stream of fire erupted from her third eye, and traveled across the dunes, straight and true, hitting the sand bender's caravan. Screams of pain and agony drifted across to the army. Most of the bodies were down, smoking in the sand, but a few were trying to rise.

"Again," The captain ordered. P'li closed her eyes, opened them and struck again. Now no more targets moved. Cheers rose among the ranks of soldiers.

"Hurray! She got 'em!"

"Victory to the Earth Queen!"

"You did well, P'li," the captain said. He reached up and grasped the back of her neck with a thick hand. P'li gasped, struggling slightly in his iron grip. "Now let's get you to the Lord….."

P'li was led, half walking, half dragged, to the largest tent in the army. Soldiers were posted on guard outside the front and they leered at her as she was shoved to the flap. P'li caught herself and straightened. The guards unfastened her wrist manacles. She was allowed to be unrestrained in the Lord's presense; it was understood retribution would be swift if she attacked him. P'li ducked into the dim tent and stood tall.

Lord Wing was reclined on a pile of plump pillows scattered over two rugs criss-crossed over the sand. He was smoking from a hookah and drinking from a round cup cradled in his palm. He was a massive man, stout in chest but even he was nowhere near as tall as she was. His impressive form was dressed simply in a lounging robe, his armor resting on a chair in the corner. P'li stood silently, waiting to be addressed. She had learned years ago not to talk back to him.

"Ah, there's my little wonder," Lord Wing grinned around the hookah pipe between his lips. "Cmere, cmere."

P'li edged closer to the rug, toes digging into the sand. Her lordship was already half drunk, his cheeks bright red with inebriation. She knew what was coming and rested her hands on the lapels of her robe. She loosened the clasps and let the robe open. Wing drank in her skinny form and focused on her small breasts.

"That's more like it. Get over here…."

P'li let her robe fall and crawled onto the pillows. Wing's large hand ran from her breasts down her stomach and parted her legs. She closed her eyes.

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Two years later, Zaheer's team had pushed the Earth Queen's army back, freeing prisoners and slaves alike. She had been selected at random and didn't know what was to come with her new masters. Zaheer had told her and the other rabble they had a choice. They could go home, walk away, or join them if they wanted. P'li had been taken from her family when she was eight. She had no idea if they were alive or dead. So she had stayed.

It had not been an easy transition. She wasn't manacled for sleep and she could eat whenever she wanted. Zaheer had alighted, finding out what she could do with her bending. To see the interest in his eyes was refreshingly new. And he was an apparent leader of the Red Lotus, so she thought she had to visit his tent. That first try, Zaheer had closed her robe and led her away from his sleeping quarters. She had stood outside, shaking and confused. Why didn't he try to lay with her?

Zaheer rebuffed her at every turn for the next several months. When she finally was angry enough to strike him, Zaheer had locked eyes with her and they grappled physically. He was shorter, but stronger. She was taller and possessed the fury of a youth lost.

"What's so wrong with me?" she had demanded. Zaheer frowned, holding her hands in his as they shoved against each other. He couldn't bend, but his brawling was formidable. He could handle his own. Their grapple had gone to the grass but Zaheer was having a hard time enough of it trying to keep her off him. She was incensed enough to not to care if he could be stronger.

Several of the Red Lotus had emerged from their tents and sleeping areas and began to guffaw at the wrestling pair. It pissed P'li off to no end but she had the upper hand and was using her wiry strength to advantage.

"Come on, Zaheer, be a man!" an older Red Lotus laughed. P'li snarled at him and Zaheer flushed with anger. He rolled his shoulders and shoved up hard at the irate woman.

P'li felt herself rising up and he was pushing her up, shoving her on her back. P'li flipped him off angrily and rather easily. Before he could move, she was on top of him again, straddling his waist and pressing his arms above his head.

Zaheer watched her with a kind of weariness she was unaccoustomed to. "I know what you've been through, P'li. You're just acting like I want what everyone else ever wanted of you."

P'li felt a flush stain her cheeks. She slammed Zaheer's hands above his head into the dirt, growling. "Shut up!"

"You have to accept it to move on," Zaheer said sagely. His youthful face looked up into hers, sorrow in his gaze. They ignored the hooting and catcalls. He lowered his voice, his words for her alone. "Only then can you be free. And don't think laying with me will make it all go away. I'm not looking for that from you."

P'li had stalked off, snarling, but alone during the night, she knew he had to be right. She was still behaving as if she were chained up. And the offer to lay with her had been what she was used to offering to receive a few hours of sleep and a meal.

Zaheer behaved as if she were his equal and a friend. Friend…. She had never had one. She didn't even know what the word meant. But the easy words he shared with her and small smiles told her that's what it meant. Then Ghazan and Ming-hua had joined them. The four of them were always together, always planning. She had never felt like she had a role, but now she did with the Red Lotus.

They had finally slept together almost a year later. P'li was getting used to not expecting anything when Zaheer had laid a single flower in her lap, and left her staring at it. Being courted was completely outside of her frame of reference, but Zaheer was the first man she knew that didn't take anything she wasn't willing to give.

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That was then. This was now.

P'li stood over the Avatar, watching her practice her breath control. P'li extended her hands in a resting pose and Korra created a fireball between her own palms. P'li gestured and Korra pushed her flame toward her. P'li captured it between her palms. The flames danced between her digits evenly. Korra laughed in delight.

"What else can you do?" she asked inquisitively. P'li gave a smug smile and pointed to the far garden wall. It was made of stone and twenty feet tall.

"Watch that spot," she said. When Korra turned to stare, she let the flame combust from her third eye in a swift stream. It collided with the stone wall, erupting in an explosion. Stonework scattered the garden. The Avatar laughed, clapping her hands. Three servants ran from the porch area and beat out the smoking fire from the wall then scattered at P'li's stare.

"That was amazing! Can I do that?" she wondered. P'li shook her head.

"I am a combustion bender. Your firebending is different," she said. Korra reached up for her hand and P'li took it.

Dusk was coming on and at this time of day they settled into a routine of dinner and bedtime. Ming-hua didn't think it was right for the Avatar to sit with them, but Zaheer allowed it every once in awhile. Isolation was key to putting what you wanted into the mind but sometimes a human touch would also bring the results they wanted. Tonight, though, was not a night for her to sit at the large square table with her masters.

Korra took her bowl of rice from the cook and sat in the corner of the kitchen. P'li ruffled her hair and took her own bowl to the dining hall. Zaheer, Ming-hua and Ghazan were already eating. They hailed her and a few other Red Lotus moved into the room to join them.

"The Earth Queen has mobilized her forces in the west. Apparently there is a rumor the Avatar was taken there," Zaheer said evenly, reading from a scroll. It had been delivered by messenger hawk earlier that day. Their benefactor sat beside him and stroked his beard.

"Tonraq must have gotten support from other leaders for help in searching for his daughter. Word from Republic City is that Councilman Tenzin is leaving his duties to join him," he commented.

"That's surprising; I thought the Earth Queen didn't care much for the past Avatar," Ghazan wondered. Ming-hua nudged him with her shoulder and he poured her another cup of tea.

"She didn't," Ming-hua said. "I wonder what game she's playing by helping them."

"She always does anything solely for her own advantage," P'li agreed. The Earth King had died quite a few years ago and the reports of his daughter's ruthlessness were damning. P'li only had to remember to know what she would do to others under her banner.

"P'li?" the child's voice sounded from the doorway to the dining hall, small and tentative. Zaheer looked into P'li's eyes.

"Bedtime. No story," he said. P'li nodded and stood up. She met Korra at the door and took her hand.

Korra hummed tunelessly as she changed into her nightgown in the small room they had allotted to her. P'li helped comb her hair and tidy her bed roll.

"Can you tell me a story tonight?" Korra asked excitedly. It had been a few weeks, but she seemed to remember hearing a story. From her parents….

"Not tonight, Avatar," P'li said evenly. The look of disappointment on Korra's face was palpable but she remained strong. "Maybe if you're good."

"I'm always good," Korra protested, but she crawled into the bedroll. P'li covered her with a few blankets.

"Have you used the facilities?" she asked. Korra nodded and pulled the blanket to her chin. Her door was locked every night and after the first few nights, it didn't seem strange. It was to protect her, Master Zaheer had said. So she had to use the restroom before being locked in. P'li noted to herself to bring a chamber pot the next night.

"Yes. G'night, Master P'li," Korra yawned. P'li let her hand linger on Korra's head, smoothing her dark hair back.

"Good night, Avatar."

P'li decided to take a bath in the manor's bathhouse. She caught a glimpse of Ming-hua dressing with her water arms as she was coming in.

"Need any help?" she asked her erstwhile friend. Ming-hua slapped the tub water with her water arm and retracted it into her canteen.

"No, thanks. Say goodnight to Zaheer," she teased. P'li smiled ruefully at her and tied her hair up.

"I will…..say goodnight to Ghazan?"

"Screw you, P'li," was her response. P'li wondered if she and Ghazan really had a relationship or not with their strange bickering, and let it go. She had her own to enjoy.

Zaheer was reading a scroll in their bed when she arrived. She nodded at the guards in the hall and slid shut the door to their room. Zaheer was dressed in loose fitting pants and tunic, seemingly ready for sleep. A lantern burned dimly beside him, throwing shadows on his stubbled face.

"There you are. You wouldn't believe what we've acquired…." Zaheer began, ready to show off his new airbending scroll when P'li shocked the words from him. She wore only her bed robe, black with red trim, and it laid open, revealing her curves and taut stomach. He stared at her hungrily and P'li smiled to see his mute appeal. He shrugged out of his tunic and rose to take her into his arms. Her arms settled around his neck as his face pressed to her breasts. She sighed when his mouth latched onto her nipple, sucking gently.

End for now

End notes: Poor Korra! Next chapter will have a bit on the search party front. I like making the baddies more human, although Bryke already did a good job at that. Tell me what you think. I hope you enjoyed.

Sincerely, pen

4/5/2016


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